The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Carnation plant, botanically known as Dianthus caryophyllus, grown commercially as a potted and garden plant and hereinafter referred to by the name ‘Hilmetal’.
The new Carnation plant is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Sanremo, Italy. The objective of the breeding program is to create new potted Carnation plants that have uniform plant habit and numerous unique and attractive flowers.
The new Carnation plant originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor in Sanremo, Italy in May, 2007 of a proprietary selection of Dianthus caryophyllus identified as code number H 5289, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with a proprietary selection of Dianthus caryophyllus identified as code number H 6321, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Carnation plant was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant from within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled greenhouse environment in Sanremo, Italy in July, 2008.
Asexual reproduction of the new Carnation plant by terminal cuttings propagated in a controlled greenhouse environment in Sanremo, Italy since 2008 has shown that the unique features of this new Carnation plant are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations of asexual reproduction.